Easy Holiday Gift: Vegan Chocolate Macaroon Truffles

You couldn’t twist my arm enough to make me eat one of these creamy chocolate truffles right now.

I know what you’re thinking…Who are you and what have you done with Ange?

Well, the reason for my truffle aversion right now is a little something called a hangover…of the red wine kind. Here I was doing so well eating healthy all weekend and then I went a bit crazy with the booze. You win some, you lose some. :) As I type this at 8pm on Sunday night, I can’t even fathom eating something sugary right now.

This too shall pass.

Despite, my current inability to eat anything that isn’t a salty carb, I can assure you these truffles are incredible! They almost didn’t make it to my sister’s place…

Thankfully, they did…and everyone raved about them. I heard many, “I’m not normally a truffle fan, but these are amazing” comments.

And then I ended up as a short-lived President with a break-proof beer insulator on my wine glass, hugging stuffed Santas. It’s a long story.

The good times rolled much like these truffles! These vegan truffles come together incredibly easy which is always nice. The only thing you need is a bit of patience while the truffle mixture firms up in the fridge for a couple hours. If you are in a rush like I was, you can place it in the freezer for 30 minutes and then in the fridge for another 30-45 mins to save a bit of time. Who can really wait 2 hours for chocolate anyways?

After the dough firms up, just shape it into balls and roll in cocoa powder. Easy stuff!

They’ll think you baked for hours.

You can also try rolling it in finely chopped toasted mixed nuts, which would give it a nice crunch. I think I will try that when I make them again on Friday!

After rolling the truffles in cocoa powder, I placed them into a cute little “Painter’s can” food container I purchased at Bulk Barn. It’s adorable…transparent…what’s not to love?

To complete my hostess gift, I attached a trimmed Christmas card with ribbon and wrote the recipe on the inside.

You can also change up the flavours too. I was thinking a chocolate orange truffle would be nice (maybe add 1/2-1 tsp orange extract and some fresh orange zest) or a mint crunch truffle (add 1/2-1 tsp peppermint extract along with some crushed candy cane). Yum!

Don’t want the shredded coconut? Just leave it out!

Need to make ahead of time? You’re in luck.

I do, however, suggest serving them with a glass of cold almond milk, instead of red wine.

[print_this]

Vegan Chocolate Macaroon Truffles

I’ve never been a big fan of traditional truffles, but these are lovely. The thick coconut milk replaces traditional cream and gives them an incredibly smooth texture while adding a hint of coconut flavour. I thought the shredded coconut would go along nicely with these truffles to bring out the coconut milk. I also added a hint of vanilla, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt to bring out the flavours even more. Try rolling them in finely chopped roasted nuts if you want to change it up and add a nutty crunch. Or try using orange extract and orange zest or peppermint extract and crushed candycane for a fun change. Don’t want the shredded coconut? Just leave it out!

Yield: 17-19 large truffles

Ingredients:

2 cups dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Camino semi-sweet)

3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk (cream from top of can)

3-4 tbsp pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener), to taste

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2-3/4 tsp kosher salt, to taste

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Cocoa powder, for rolling (or finely chopped toasted nuts)

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the chocolate chips on the lowest heat, stirring frequently. Alternatively, you can use a double boiler if you prefer.

2. Open a can of full-fat coconut milk, and gently scrape the cream from the top of the can to make 3/4 cup. Whisk this into the melted chocolate.

3. Stir in the vanilla, salt, maple syrup all to taste. Whisk well to remove all clumps, as the maple syrup may harden it up again. If it does harden up just keep heating it on low and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut.

4. Scoop mixture into a bowl and place in the freezer for 30 mins. Stir with a spoon to break up the hardened spots and place in the fridge for 45 mins to firm up some more.

5. Once firm, shape mixture with fingers (I wore plastic gloves to avoid making a huge mess of my hands) into 1.5 inch balls. The mixture will be quite sticky. If it’s too sticky, simply return it to the fridge for a bit longer. Roll into cocoa powder and repeat for the rest. Store in fridge until ready to use.

[/print_this]

The truffles are an indulgent, easy gift you can make for your girlfriends, family, host or hostess, or maybe even yourself!

As I edit this post on Monday morning, a truffle for breakfast is almost tempting. I’m back, baby.

Recipes coming up…

Coming up on the blog, the 12 Days of Healthy Dinner Recipes continues with a take-out inspired dinner recipe. On the cookie front- Eggnog Spiced Snickerdoodles I made for a cookie swap.

Wow I will definitely make these this week! Sorry about your hangover. Have you tried eating an umeboshi then sucking on the pit? I know, sounds gross but the old Japanese wives tale works! At least for me and my stomach when I’m hungover. :)

The eggnog snickerdoodles and I know you probably made them vegan…wow…between no eggs in the eggnog or the cookies, you had your work cut out for you..can’t wait to see those.

But first…a ball of chocolate. Oh balls of chocolate, how I love thee :)

And yours are dusted in cocoa powder. Lovely! And reduces the need for what seems to be each ball using up between and eighth and a quarter cup of melted chocolate chips whenever I make balls or truffles. Lol

These look so tasty Ange (and I’m not normally a truffle person!!) Looks like you had a really fun time – tis the season for wine! :) I was actually in Bulk Barn yesterday thinking about how cute the tins were. Wish I had more time for holiday baking because I’d love to fill some of them! Can’t wait to see what else is in store recipe-wise this week!

I wish this posted one day earlier! I literally made all my homemade cookies and gifts yesterday and am wiped out but these would’ve been perfect! There are so many chocolate lovers in my family, I’m sure they would’ve loved them. Plus they’re huge wine drinkers too and truffles + wine is like the ultimate combo (as you seem to know ;))

Mmm…these look tasty! So much better and so much better for you than those oreo cream cheese truffles that seem to be all the rage lately!
And I like the chocolate orange idea! Chocolate almond or chocolate hazelnut would be yummy too!

Ummm, hilarious. Apparently this was the weekend to act like you’re 21 again, because I was out til 3am on Friday and 2am on Saturday. Ohhh, good times. ;) I’m not usually a truffle fan either, but I think it’s just the kind with the liquid center..gag! I LOVE the solid chocolate kind, like you’ve made above!

I don’t know why the thought of making truffles always seems to daunting- there’s so few ingredients! I guess just because they taste so decadent, I think they MUST be complicated.
I can’t wait to see the Snickerdoodle recipe. That’s my mom’s signature cookie (minus the eggnog).

Angela, i dont quite understand what you mean by cream from the top of can. Usually when I open a can of coconut milk there doesn’t seem to be this separation with cream on top.
I have a can of actual coconut cream(have never used it), would that be the same thing?

Im not positive on how long they will last exactly, but they will keep for a very long time in the fridge! I would guess at least 10 days, but probably over 2 weeks. I’ll do a little test on them and update the recipe when I know for sure…hopefully I can make it last that long! ;)

Oh yum! Truffles are my biggest weakness. My friend made me a small batch last Christmas and they didn’t even last 2 days! I will definitely be making these – and then promptly wrapping them up as gifts to avoid the temptation of eating the whole batch haha. I’ll save a *few* for myself though. ;)

Unrelated to those delicious looking truffles (I too am one of those, ‘not really a truffle person’, and I am going to attempt these this weekend!), I made your favourite granola recipe yesterday. It went . . . OK. Next time I would turn the tray around partway through baking, as the back portion of it was a little ‘crisper’ and darker (no – not burnt . . sort of!). Also I would actually pay 100% attention to the direction and not add the dried cranberries until AFTER the cooking process. But regardless, my husband (who does not like cereal), snacked on a bowl during football yesterday and proclaimed it to be delicious. I already knew that after my bowl with cold milk an hour earlier, but sometimes it takes people awhile to catch on :)

Hi Angela, I wanted to post a comment on your vegan crackers which I made yesterday and there so good and I am going to make it again. I am glad that I found your blog browsing randomly through food buzz. I will be posting your recipe soon on my blog. Your truffles also seem mouthwatering I can almost feel them melting in my mouth.

These look exactly like a truffle I had at a restaurant in Keene, NH a few months ago.. the restaurant was not vegan but when I let my server know I am vegan, the chef surprised me by whipping up a truffle for me for dessert! Ever since then I have been wondering how to make something similar.. yay!

I have three batches of these truffles chilling in my fridge right now. I made the recipe you have above. I have another version that is the same, but without coconut, which I’m going to roll in macadamia nuts. The third has peppermint and I’m going to use crushed candy canes, like you suggest. I can’t wait to finish them up and try them.

We were watching Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas special last night, and ending up skipping most of it because it was mostly meat-based and the non-meat things were not that appealing. We watched the truffles though, and I was left wondering how to make them vegan. You have delivered the answer to me the following morning :) These actually look identical to his, right down to the suggestions for optional flavour additions and coating possibilities, but healthier and dairy free! And thus better :) Delicious.

Excited for your snickerdoodles recipe since I made them last week by mostly just swapping the milk for silk nog. And I truly thought was my own individual genius idea (no Google involved!) but could use a little more “ummmph” before it is cookie platter good. Good enough for me to stuff in my face at midnight, but wouldn’t convince my neighbors how cool vegan baking is. Bring it on soon. Feel better!

I can’t wait to try these truffles for Christmas! I have my husband’s family to see and these will make a great treat and maybe the snickerdoodles too, I do have eggnog in the refrigerator that is dying for a recipe!!

How would these freeze? They look so good, but require the refrigeration for two hours (I’m the worst planner)… thinking of making a huge batch to freeze minus the cocoa powder, then dust after they defrost so the powder doesn’t become wet from the defrosting condensation?

I new immediately when I saw this recipe that I HAD to make it. My husband insists he *hates coconut, I love it so I decided not to omit it. I did not tell my husband that there was coconut in the recipe and although he could obviously tell as soon as he took a bite. He thought for a minute and said “Those are pretty good”. Now the hard part is going to be ingnoring the plate of them in fridge until X-mas!! I made them into about 50 small balls so the recipe would serve more people. Thanks!!

I just checked on the truffles and all looks good except the candy cane coated ones. I’ve kept them in the coldest part of the fridge and the candy cane part melted right off them!! Good thing I only made a few of those and stored them seperate :) Guess those are for me to enjoy!! I think they might go nice with my coffee in the morning.

I made these yesterday and they are absolutely 100% pure joy! They are rich and chocolate-y without being overwhelming (that is unless you stick 4 in your mouth at one time……but even then that might be okay).
This recipe was perfect! The only thing I did differently was omit the coconut because my brother won’t go near anything that tastes like coconut; you can’t tell at all that the cream used for this is coconut cream. It just tastes like a rich, decadent chocolate truffle!
I ended up making about 28 pretty decent to hefty sized truffles out of this recipe. Maybe mine just weren’t as big as the ones you made for your blog, but they are definitely quite sizable!
anyways, thank you so much for this great recipe, and all your great recipes! Merry christmas!

Hi Angela. I chanced upon your blog earlier this year and I’ve been a follower since then. I’m not a vegan, but I’ve made many of your recipes with ease. Thank you so much! However, I’m having a bit of a problem with this truffle recipe. I did not add maple syrup and only added 1/2 cup of shredded coconut. It’s been in the fridge for more than 2 hours now. I even put it in the freezer for a good 45 mins. But it still is not firm enough to form into balls. Help please? Me, my husband and my mini-me want to devour them already! Thank you so much again for sharing all your wonderful recipes and happy thoughts! Happy Holidays!

I see. hehe. I just left the maple syrup out. It’s hard to find a really good one here in my part of the globe, not to mention extremely expensive. I only have honey on hand. I’ll give that a try. Or maybe, I’ll also lessen the coconut milk I used? Thanks so much! You’re such an inspiration.

Elena, you might not even need any sweetener, depending on how dark you like your chocolate. I didn’t add the maple (even though I’m Canadian ;) ) because I like my truffles more bitter than sweet. Enjoy!!

I make vegan truffles every year, and this year I made your version (minus the coconut and plus more dark chocolate and vanilla essence). I had amazing reviews, so I will be adding these to my permanent Christmas “baking” collection. Thank you, once again, Angela!

Also, I’m inspired by the Earl Grey Truffle recipe from The Star’s Golden Whisk (10 best recipes of the year) Awards. I’m pretty sure that by “homogenized milk” and “cream” they mean the thick part of the coconut milk :) http://www.thestar.com/living/food/recipes/article/1107664–golden-whisk-earl-grey-truffles

It’s currently setting up in my freezer, the “dough” as it were, was really tasty though! Instead of chocolate chips, I used a chocolate sauce recipe from Happy Herbivore to save myself some time and money on the chips.

I also wondered, do you use grade A or B maple syrup in your cooking? I’m new to it, just got my first bottle yesterday, and was wondering.

Hi!
I made these last night and after hours in the freezer they didn’t harden at all. I left over night and they’re still goopy and un-rollable. I don’t know what I did wrong! Do you know if I can fix them?? :) I made 3 batches with different flavours so it would really be a shame if I waste the mixtures!

I just made these for a Thanksgiving gift for relatives..as well as a treat for my family. They are delicious! Everyone loved them. They are so easy to make too. The only think I was surprised about was how soft they were even after a whole night in the fridge…perhaps I added a bit too much coconut cream. I still managed to roll them into balls though. I rolled half in toasted coconut and half in cocoa. I plan to make more for Christmas and try different toppings as well as different flavors in the chocolate. Thank you for such a great recipe!